


s is for secrets

by shima_wishes



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Forehead Kisses, Truth or Dare, but i love it, half reveal, honestly this is such a shitpost
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 05:53:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8653327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shima_wishes/pseuds/shima_wishes
Summary: “You’re what?” asks Alya, frowning at her friend and hugging her pillow between crossed legs and arms.“I’m… Ladybug?”“Dude,” breathes Nino, laying upside down across the bed and flopping back to stare at her, his glasses sliding off his face. “Dude.”Adrien just stares.
  adrien, marinette, nino, and alya play a remarkably interesting sleepover game of truth or dare.





	1. s-words are forbidden

**Author's Note:**

> i started writing this because i needed to write for nanowrimo but was feeling a total slump but _oh my god._ i SO enjoyed writing this. it's possibly one of the best things i've ever created. i was basically laughing the entire way through writing it and was constantly sending snippets to the mlfanfiction people (so thanks u guys for the encouragement!!)
> 
> i hope you enjoy reading this as much as i loved writing it

“You’re what?” asks Alya, frowning at her friend and hugging her pillow between crossed legs and arms.

“I’m… Ladybug?”

“Dude,” breathes Nino, laying upside down across the bed and flopping back to stare at her, his glasses sliding off his face. “ _ Dude. _ ”

Adrien just stares.

Marinette squirms uncomfortably. Maybe this was a bad idea. “Do you not believe me?”

“No, girl, we believe you, we’re just…  _ what _ ,” Alya replies, gesturing at her with one hand. “I mean, I never thought you’d admit it.”

“What?!” Squeaks Marinette, her face flaming red. “What do you mean? Are you saying you knew?”

Alya nods solemnly and Nino kind of shrugs. “You were never that subtle about it. Always disappearing and being late. But we didn’t want to confront you about it so we just kind of discussed it and the more we did, the more obvious it seemed,” Nino admits.

“I can’t believe this,” says Marinette with a laugh, sounding as if she’s about to faint. “Does anyone else know? Adrien, did you know?”

The three of them glance over at Adrien and he just stares back with wide eyes and then slowly shakes his head.

“I almost forgot that sunshine boy over here totally has a thing for Ladybug,” Alya says, wiggling her eyebrows. “Looks like you two were made for each other, am I right?”

“Th-that’s not true at all!” Exclaims Adrien, his face immediately going as red as Nathanael’s hair as he lifts his pillow and launches it towards her as forcefully as he can. Alya bursts into laughter as it bounces off her head and she chucks it back. “I never said that.”

“Dude. Are you kidding,” Nino deadpans. “You don’t even  _ need _ to say it. Marinette’s not good at hiding her identity, you’re not good at hiding your emotions. I know that most of the time you restrain yourself from talking about her but I can see it in your  _ eyes _ . Like the burning flames of the Eiffel Tower after an akuma attack are flickering behind them.”

“Poetic,” snorts Alya, and Nino grins back at her. “Why don’t you write poetry like that for me?”

“Your hair is like the burning embers of my dying dreams,” he says, hardly missing a beat. “How about that?”

“Babe.”

A tense pause.

“I love it.”

“You’re welcome,” Nino says, rolling over and leaning to press a kiss to her cheek. “But we’re getting distracted. We were talking about Adrien’s crush on Ladybug.”

Adrien finally seems to have come to his senses as he crosses his arms. “Ohhh, nononono,” he says, shaking his head vigorously and glancing quickly at Marinette. “We are  _ not  _ discussing this right now. This is truth or dare. Marinette had her turn, so now we pick the next person. Those are the rules.”

Rolling her eyes, Alya picks up her phone. Marinette is just staring at the floor with bright pink cheeks and the faintest ghost of a smile on her face. 

“Ugh, I guess flower child over here is right,” Alya groans. 

“Again with the nicknames,” he mutters, picking at his pillow.

She sneaks a quick smirk at him before she continues. “You know you love it. Anyway, the app says that it’s Nino next. Truth or dare?”

“Hmmm…” Nino rolls over again, balancing his hat on his chin and tapping his cheek. “Truth. Feeling pretty lazy right now.”

Alya nods so solemnly that you would think he’d just made the decision over whether or not to hire someone for a job, or something of a similar calibre. “Good choice. Here we gooo… ah.” she laughs as the question pops up on the screen. “Well this one should be easy. It says: who in the group do you think is most attracted to you and why?”

“Well this one’s obvious,” he says with a grin. “Adrien, of course. I don’t really think it needs explaining.”

Adrien fist bumps him and he rolls off the bed to land practically on top of his best friend to hug him, crushing him beneath him. The two dissolve into laughter but then Adrien begins to choke and gasp for air.

“Nino- I love you but please get- off- I’m dying-” gasps Adrien, dramatically reaching a hand out and then letting it flop pathetically to the floor.

“Shit! Sorry, dude,” he says, rolling off again to end up near Alya, propping himself up next to her against the bed. She glares at him playfully and he pecks her on the cheek. “Don’t worry, babe, Adrien’s not gonna intrude in our relationship. He’s way more into Ladybug than he is into me, anyway, so I don’t stand a chance.”

“Shut _ up _ !” exclaims an enraged Adrien from across the room.

Marinette stares at Alya as Adrien and Nino begin to bicker between themselves with baffled wide blue eyes. Her best friend just winks back at her, smiling deviously as she turns away to call for quiet and waves her hands in the air.

“Next up is the number one dank meme himself, Adrien Agreste!”

Laughs, Adrien says, “I could actually get on board with that nickname.”

“Alright, mister, truth or dare?”

Adrien narrows his eyes and thoughtfully strokes his chin as he thinks deeply about his decision. He glances at Marinette and then, seeing her watching him so intently, flickers his eyes away again to gaze back at Alya. “I’m kind of terrified of both at this point, but I guess I’ll pick dare.”

“Nice choooice! First dare of the evening,” Alya replies, pumping one fist into the air. “Okay, your dare is… ooh, this is a good one. Good luck with this, lover boy. The first person who says a word beginning with ‘S’ after this… you have to kiss.”

“Uh.” says Adrien.

“Th-that’s way too hard! Lots of words begin with that letter!” Squeaks Marinette, leaning forward on her hands with her legs crossed. “It’ll be over as- I mean, it’ll be way too easy for… a person… to accidentally do it.”

Alya watches her for a moment and then raises one hand in front of her mouth as if to whisper conspiratorially at Nino. “Pay close attention to your words, Nino. We have to ensure that Mar is the first one to do it.”

“Got it,” Nino whispers back.

Their two friends just glare at them as if they want to rip out their windpipes and stamp on them in high heels. Alya snickers and casually slips an arm around Nino’s shoulders, using her other hand to click the phone. They both watch the screen as the next name comes up, and suddenly all attention is on Marinette.

“You next,” says Nino simply.

“Truth or dare?” adds Alya, wiggling her eyebrows again.

“U-uh… I’m gonna have to go for truth?”

“You certain about that? You don’t- never mind, what I was gonna add included a word beginning with the letter and I can’t think of a way to change it,” says Alya with a shrug.

“Yeah, go ahead,” replies Marinette, biting her lip.

Alya looks back at the screen and pouts as the question comes up. “Aw, this one’s boring. But I guess you gotta get the dud ones every now and then. Who’s your favourite celebrity?”

Something seems to dawn on her as she says it and she grins mischievously. Marinette raises one eyebrow and hesitantly begins to answer the question.

“You probably all already know this, but it’s Jagged-” she stops, and her mouth forms an o as she looks frantically back and forth between her friends. “Uh- yeah. You all already know it anyway.”

“Finish the name, Mar,” insists Alya, giving her an evil look. “You have to answer the truth or you get the penalty.”

“...What even is the penalty?” asks Adrien questioningly, tilting his head slightly.

Shrugging, Alya replies, “We never decided on one. I guess we can just make one up.”

“That’s totally unfair!” Cries Marinette, giggling. “Alya, you’re a dirty player.”

“I absolutely am not!” gasps Alya, slapping a hand on her chest and leaning backwards as she pretends to be offended. “How rude of you. I’m the fairest player on the block. The neighbours always- always, uh. Told me.” 

Nino snorts. “Babe, what the hell kind of neighbourhood was that.”

She lightly digs him with her phone, her other hand rendered unusable as it’s still draped around his neck. “A great one, Nino. A great one.”

“Riiight.” he rolls his eyes.

“Well, what do you guys think? Penalty for Mari?”

“It’s not as if she technically lied. I think we should let her off this time,” Adrien suggests, and both Nino and Marinette nod in agreement (Marinette especially with eagerness) whilst Alya glowers at them one by one.

“You’re damn lucky to be able to use words beginning with that letter whenever you want,” mumbles Nino.

“You’re all a bunch of- god dammit, that letter is in that phrase twice. You’re all no fun,” mutters Alya, leaning her head deflatedly on Nino’s shoulder and scrolling through her phone. “Well, next up is me. And I pick truth. And the question is asking what I hate most about my best friend.”

Everyone’s gaze swivels back to Marinette. She raises one eyebrow at Alya. “You better be careful, or you might end up without a best friend to talk about.”

Pursing her lips, Alya’s gaze hovers on Marinette for a few minutes as she thinks about what she wants to say. After a short while, Marinette is about to tell her to hurry up when her face suddenly lights up and she lifts her phone into the air, signalling that she’s just had an idea. Actually, Mari is a little annoyed and slightly frightened that she came to a conclusion so fast.

“What I hate about my best friend is that they refuse to ask out their crush, even after being close to him for months now and it being blindingly obvious that he likes her back.”

“That’s it, I’m disowning you!” Yells Marinette, her face beet red as she throws a pillow at Alya with pure brute force, but it skims her nose and whacks Nino in the face instead. 

He reaches a hand to his face and gently feels around it as he winces with a soft and slightly hurt, “Ow.”

“Oh god, oh god Nino I’m so sorry!” Yelps Marinette, waving her hands about rapidly before her face. “I didn’t mean to- WAIT. SHIT!”

“O. M. G! Marinette, you just  _ totally _ blew it!” Alya cries, shrieking with laughter. “Finally I can say words that start with ‘s’ again. Jesus Christ that was difficult.”

“Shit. Sod. Spaghetti. Salmon,” says Nino, laughing at himself as he does so. “Man, it feels so good to say those words. You have no idea, Adrien.”

“Are you telling me you’ve wanted to say both spaghetti and salmon between the time that dare was set and now?” asks Adrien, grinning widely. 

“I mean, no, but…”

Marinette sits vibrating in the corner with her arms wrapped around her knees. Alya glances briefly over at her and rests her chin on her fist, still with the phone inside it.

“Maybe we shouldn’t force Mari to do this,” she says softly, turning to the other two. “It seemed like fun, but kissing is a bigger deal that any of us made it out to be.”

“Yeah. It’s okay, Marinette. We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” nods Adrien, smiling at her kindly. The gesture just makes her duck further behind her knees.

“Dude, are you saying you do?” whispers Nino out of the corner of his mouth.

“Shut up Nino,” hisses Adrien back through gritted teeth.

Marinette slowly peers over her knees and looks between them one by one.

“I’ll do it,” she says, suddenly and firmly, still hunched over. “I-I mean, not on the lips, it didn’t specify where the kiss had to be right-”

“Are… you sure?” asks Adrien, a light dusting of pink on his cheeks.

“I’m sure.”

The room is deathly silent as he shuffles over towards Marinette, still on his knees, who seems to be rendered unable to move. It’s as if everyone, including Alya and Nino, is holding their breath in tense anticipation. Then, slowly, he reaches out towards her face and his fingertips gently brush her fringe to one side.

“Is here okay?” he asks, green eyes connecting with blue. Surprisingly, hers don’t slide away.

She nods.

And he closes his eyes and gently leans forward to press a single warm, soft kiss to her forehead.

He probably holds it for longer than he intended to or was expected to, and when he finally pulls away Marinette looks up at him with a shy smile. He smiles back, and suddenly up close he’s noticing all the similarities she shares with Ladybug. He wishes that he had seen them all along.

“That was like, possibly the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen,” says Alya from across the room, interrupting the moment, beaming. “I totally ship it.”

“You can’t ship them, they’re real people, Al,” Nino retorts, but he’s grinning too.

“Don’t say you don’t see it! They practically ship themselves anyway.”

Adrien and Marinette just turn back to look at each other, and neither of them can keep a smile off their face. He settles himself back down, next to her this time, and drags a blanket that’s been abandoned on the floor towards them, offering it to her to share.

She nods shyly and they snuggle into it, shoulder to shoulder.

Alya looks at them and grins triumphantly. “Alright, let’s see whose turn it is to give up their private life next!”


	2. jeez, just date already

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino just shrugs and pulls out another hat from behind him, tipping it forwards slightly over his head. Adrien blinks in surprise as if he can’t quite believe what he just saw.
> 
> “Uh, Nino, how many fucking hats do you own and where the hell do you keep them all?”
> 
> “Adrien, dude, there are some things about me that just have to remain a secret,” he says, mysteriously raising one eyebrow.

“Babe, what are you doing.”

Alya has been fixated on her phone for the last five minutes as the others watch her in anticipation. She clicks continuously on the screen and barely looks up to answer him. “I’m going through until I find a good one.”

“Doesn’t that defeat the point of the random generator in the app?” asks Adrien. He can feel Marinette - Ladybug - pressed to his side, soft and warm. He’s glad nobody can hear his heart beating out of control. 

“Yeah, well, if the truths and dares suck it defeats the point of the entire game,” replies Alya, pulling a face. “Don’t you get it? Truth or dare is supposed to be hard! Questions like ‘have you ever cheated on a test’ just don’t cut it.”

“For the record, I’ve never cheated on any tests,” says Nino, drawing a cross over his chest with his hand. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

Adrien almost opens his mouth to say something, but then snaps it shut again. He can’t betray his best friend.

Turns out he doesn’t need to, because Marinette pipes up beside him, giggling. “You’re dead anyway then, aren’t you? You cheat off Adrien all the time.”

“Wh- Mari _ nette _ !” He only puts emphasis on the second part of her name, indignantly putting a hand to his chest where his heart is. “I can’t believe you’d expose me like this. I’ll have you know that Adrien is the one who- oh- oh no- I can feel my heart beginning to stop beating- Alya, babe, I need you to stop paying attention to that phone screen and save me-”

“Sorry, no can do,” she says, waving a hand dismissively. “Busy finding something juicy to ask.”

“I can’t believe your game is more important to you than me,” says Nino, trying to keep a straight face but slowly breaking down into laughter. “I’m breaking up with you. But it doesn’t matter anyway because-” he coughs and sucks in a deep breath, eyes widening comically. “I’m… dying…”

He closes his eyes and slumps against Alya, almost knocking her over as all his weight is pressed to her side. She laughs and flails her arms around, trying and failing to push him off her. “Nino! Nino, I’m sorry! Wake up,” she snorts, holding her phone into the air as he swipes with one hand to grab it, still acting limp and dead everywhere else. “H-hey, I just found a good question! Babe, I love you, wake up.”

When he doesn’t move, she sighs and presses a quick kiss to his cheek. Sitting up straight again, he grins and says, “You could have just apologised, but I’ll take it.”

“What question did you find?” asks Marinette, grinning widely as she watches them.

“Okay. So it  _ was _ Nino’s turn, but he already went technically, so let’s move on to Adrien. And the question calls for a description of your first kiss.”

Marinette turns to look at him with wide eyes. She’s never considered before that Adrien might have had people he’s dated in the past, before they met. 

Meanwhile, Adrien shifts uncomfortably. “If you mean on the lips, I’ve never had one?”

Alya tuts. “That wasn’t juicy at all, Adrien! You need to step it up.”

“Hey! I can’t help if I’ve never-”

“Well, Mar, we’ll move on to you then. Ever kissed anybody before I walked into your life that I didn’t know about?” interrupts Alya with a sly grin.

“I don’t th-” Marinette begins, but then suddenly her hand shoots up to her mouth and her face changes shade to a dark crimson hue.

“Oh, shit, there is someone!” Exclaims Nino, a cross between excited and shocked. “I didn’t think you’d ever dated anyone.”

“W-well, I, um, haven’t?” Marinette says hesitantly, smiling unconvincingly at her friends.

“Oh, this is gold. Spill the beans, girl,” Alya says, pretending to film with her phone.

“Al! Okay, so long as you’re not really filming, I’ll tell you,” says Marinette firmly, and Alya slowly puts her phone down. “That’s right. Good blogger. Okay… actually, it was after we met, Alya.”

“What?!” Exclaims Alya, her mouth dropping open as she points between Adrien and Marinette, who both laugh nervously. “But you two- but Adrien said-”

Marinette glances at Adrien guiltily and then looks at the floor, twiddling a lock of hair between her thumb and forefinger. “Um, that’s because it… wasn’t Adrien?” she says, wincing as she braces for impact.

“WHAT?!” Roars Alya, and Nino tries to shush her as she leaps to her feet and points accusingly at Marinette. “I can’t believe you never told me this! Did someone hurt my baby Marinette? Who was it?!”

“No, no, don’t worry, nobody hurt me! I wasn’t forced into it or anything. It was, um…”

Everyone in the room stares at her with bated breath.

“It may or may not have been Chat Noir?” she says, her voice high pitched and so quiet that they can barely hear her.

Alya just stares at for a moment or two, and Adrien’s mouth drops open.  _ He doesn’t remember that. When did he kiss Marinette? Or Ladybug, for that matter? _

“Of course!” Alya exclaims, dramatically falling back onto her bed and almost hitting her head on the wall behind it. “I forgot about Ladynoir! I always thought that Ladybug and Chat Noir were together. But, Mari, you like Adrien…”

Adrien looks away to hide the blush on his face.

“No, it’s nothing like that…” whispers Marinette, scratching her head nervously. “I kind of had to kiss him. When Dark Cupid attacked. He got hit and the only way I could think of to turn him back was by kissing him…”

“True love. I told you it was real,” Alya says, nudging Nino with her foot. He rolls his eyes.

“We don’t love each other! A-at least, not like that,” insists Marinette, glaring at Alya who just smiles sweetly back.

Adrien could beg to differ. 

He can’t believe he missed his first kiss. He hopes that some day he can do it over again.

“How about you two?” asks Marinette, nodding to Alya and Nino. They look at each other and then back at her. “We’ve both answered the question. I think at this point it’s only fair if you two do as well.”

Nino shrugs nonchalantly. “My first kiss was Al.”

“Mine was some girl back in my old school, but we weren’t in a serious relationship or anything,” confesses Alya. “Not all that interesting. Yours was a way better scoop than mine, Mar.”

“I can’t believe everyone here has had a first kiss except for the literal model,” says Nino, chucking his hat across the room towards his friend. “Although Adrien’s never exactly fit the popular boy stereotype.”

Maybe Adrien’s wrong about not having a kiss before, so he keeps his mouth zipped. If he brought it up now it would make everything  _ very _ complicated.

“Okay, the next question is a free for all,” Alya says, impatiently chugging along as if she just can’t wait to dig up dirt on all of her friends.

“A true journalist,” mutters Marinette. Only Adrien can hear her, and she smiles as he laughs at her comment.

“Who in the room have you had a crush on? I’ll get the ball rolling. I’ve had a crush on both Nino and Ladybug and, by extension Marinette,” says Alya, as if it’s no big deal to her.

“Me?” Marinette asks with wide eyes.

“You, girl.”

“Huh.”

“Okay, neeext! Nino! Go go go!”

Nino just shrugs and pulls out another hat from behind him, tipping it forwards slightly over his head. Adrien blinks in surprise as if he can’t quite believe what he just saw.

“Uh, Nino, how many fucking hats do you own and where the hell do you keep them all?”

“Adrien, dude, there are some things about me that just have to remain a secret,” he says, mysteriously raising one eyebrow. “I’m just gonna go ahead and say all three of you. And also that it’s not my fault. I’m blaming you guys for that.”

“Anyone of us could have answered that one for you, to be honest, Nino,” Alya tells him, gently flicking his nose. “Mari?”

“You’ve basically already told everyone here, Al, so uh… Adrien,” she says determinedly, barely batting an eyelid at the confession. “And maybe you for a bit. I don’t really know, feelings are confusing.”

“Awwww that’s so cute! I feel blessed to have been crushed on by an actual angel,” says Alya, clasping her hands together. Marinette giggles.

“I agree,” says Adrien, and Marinette falls silent. Her face flames.

“Holy shit,” she mumbles.

“Did you say something?”

“Uh- I said- I said um, can’t believe it!” Marinette blabbers rapidly, her voice reaching a pitch only dogs could hear at the end of the sentence.

If that wasn’t enough to make her heart explode, when Adrien hesitantly says “Only Marinette,” next, she thinks that she’s going to legitimately suffer from a heart attack. Especially with him so close by her side.

“Jeez, just date already,” Alya says, rolling her eyes.

“It’s not that easy!” Marinette and Adrien shout at the same time.

Alya examines their burning, furious, but slightly ecstatic faces and snickers. “It's fucking hilarious that we've all had a crush on Marinette at some point or another. Aaaand I’ve completely lost track of whose turn it was now,” she says, sliding off the bed to slump down next to Nino again. “And anyway, all the rest of these questions are trash. Wanna do something else?”

“Absolutely,” says Marinette eagerly, ready to change the topic. She’s had quite enough of truth or dare by now. There are so many more secrets she could be forced to give away now that they know she’s Ladybug. “What should we do, though?”

“Pillow fort!” Adrien exclaims, as if he’s been wanting to yell it out all night. He tugs on the collar of his shirt and relaxes backwards slightly. “I mean, uh. A pillow fort would be fun.”

“Dude, that’s one of the most cliché things I have ever heard,” snickers Nino.

“It  _ does  _ sound fun, though,” Alya admits, glancing around the room. “We have pillows and blankets and some beds and shelves and things to work with. I think we could make it happen.”

“Nice,” Nino nods.

“Hey, Marinette, I dare you to sneak downstairs and get us some food from the kitchen,” Alya says with a wink.

Marinette groans. “What if one of your siblings discovers me again?”

“That happened?” snorts Nino, slowly standing up and wincing as if he’s in pain. “Jeez, I’ve been sat down for way too long.”

“Yeah. It was really funny. Let me tell you this, Marinette is shit with little kids.”

“Excuse me?” Marinette says incredulously, heaving herself up to stretch. “How dare you accuse me of being shit with little kids. I’m offended.”

Alya deadpans. “The flour yoghurt incident. No further comment.”

Marinette seems to consider for a second before saying, “Okay, yeah. That’s fair.”

“Right. Well, if you’re really going to refuse to go it alone, Adrien can go with you as well,” says Alya, “And Nino and I can start gathering stuff for the pillow fort.”

“I literally don’t know where the kitchen is. At all. I’m more of a danger than Mari at this point,” Adrien points out.

“Rest in pieces. Now go!” Alya insists relentlessly.

Rolling her eyes, Marinette reaches out to open the door. “Alright, Adrien, let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't like this chapter as much as the last one but i hoped you enjoyed it anyway!! in other news i _finally_ caught up to nanowrimo so with (hopefully) a mixture of this  & [and the ocean calls](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8595016/chapters/19710526), i may be in it to win it for the first time EVER in four years! :D
> 
> tumblr: [marichengs](http://marichengs.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> for now this is it but there's a possibility i might write more, so i've set it as a multi-chapter fic! please please let me know if you'd want to read any more and i'll definitely consider continuing if i still end up with no motivation for my pirates au in the next few days/whilst i'm writing it :D
> 
> tumblr: [marichengs](http://marichengs.tumblr.com/)


End file.
